Pope Francis reminded the newest cardinals that the “readiness of a cardinal to shed his own blood (is) signified by the scarlet colour of your robes.” For one of them it was not a reminder but a memory.

The death of Alan Nichols took several months to make it into the mainstream news. And as of this writing, it is still a blank spot. His case should have been big news because of what it indicates for the future of this country and the safety of our most vulnerable.

“Overdrawn,” I thought, as I drove out of the city. “I feel like my whole life is overdrawn.” 

Jimmy Carter, the former U.S. president who turned 95 on Oct. 1, is one of the most decent, self-sacrificing human beings of the 20th (and 21st) century. 

Somehow in the tsunami of humanity flooding Montreal’s downtown streets for last Friday’s “climate march,” I spotted an elegantly dressed woman wearing a small white lapel button protesting Quebec’s Bill 21.

Church attendance is waning and religious non-affiliation is waxing. That’s hardly news. Observe the empty pews.

For many of us of a certain age, “Who Are You?” by the Who is a seminal song, made popular again as the theme music to the TV show CSI. 

It’s been called a “national health crisis” and a “public emergency.” It’s a major issue in next month’s federal election.

In this federal election, part of me feels like a bystander. If you are like me, an orthodox Christian, someone whose faith is not confined to Sundays, you may feel the same.

Early in his book, Biography of Silence, Pablo d’Ors notes some of the many experiences he cultivated in his life as a young adult — travelling, reading voraciously and having numerous romances. “Like many of my contemporaries, I was convinced that the more experiences I had and the more intense and stunning they were, the sooner and better I would become a complete person.”